


The words never said - Special Content

by heavensweetheart



Series: The words never said [2]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Ending, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Azula POV - Freeform, Cuddling & Snuggling, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Kissing, POV First Person, Romantic Fluff, Royalty, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:21:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25214578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heavensweetheart/pseuds/heavensweetheart
Summary: Additional scenes to my past Zutara work "The words never said", including different POVs and an alternative ending.
Relationships: Katara & Zuko (Avatar), Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: The words never said [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1487798
Comments: 4
Kudos: 17





	1. Wake me up

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Mai'sABigBlah](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Mai%27sABigBlah).
  * Inspired by [The words never said](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20670722) by [heavensweetheart](https://archiveofourown.org/users/heavensweetheart/pseuds/heavensweetheart). 



> I got lots of requests for this, and I finally decided to do it: a continuation of my past fic but with an alternate Zutara ending. Enjoy!

**Zuko**

“ _Zuko!_ ”

It’s not the scream that wakes me up, but the bed throwing me to hit the ceiling and back.

“What the – ” I rub the back of my head.

Blinking groggily – though I _really_ hope it is for the sleepiness and not a concussion – my eyes semi-focus on a tiny, greenish, pale and black figure that I recognize as Toph.

“I’ve been trying to wake you up since forever!” she stresses. Screams. _Gods, why does everybody in this group has to be so loud all the time?_

“What for?” I wonder somewhere between angry and plain resigned. (I’m not really interested in knowing, I just want her to quiet down and not wake me up with earthbending, for Spirits sake!)

“Come with me!” she orders and doesn’t awaits my answer to step out of the room.

It is rather dark, by the way; it’s always incredibly dark here on Ember Island in contrast with its sunny days. I would love to have her perceptiveness to dress up and then go look for her. (She sure is bossy for such a little girl!)

I step out into the hallway. The walls and the paint is worn out for all the years the house remained inhabited.

“Alright, Toph, what’s going on?”

A loud cry resounds and crumbles down through the place.

“ _That’s_ happening!”

It came from Katara’s room.

“What was that?”

I rush to the bedroom Katara picked for herself. Grab the knob. Hesitate. Let it go.

Now that I’m standing so close I can hear the sobs vividly; Katara’s crying. Wailing. Like she was been tortured in the spot.

“What’s going on?” I accentuate.

“What does it _sounds_ to you that’s going on?” Toph has to scream over Katara’s howls. “Katara’s crying!”

“What for?” I demand.

“She’s clearly having a nightmare! And I don’t think it’s a coincidence after she went meet her mother’s killer!” she points to the door. “Get in there and fix it!”

“ _Me?_ ” I’m flabbergasted. “Why me?”

“You’re the only one that was with her when it happened! At least you know what you’re dealing with!”

“But I – ”

“I’m telling you to get in there!”

As sudden as the earthbending move she used to raise my bed from the ground, she opens the door herself and pushes me in, closing it behind my back. I barely have time to register it, turn back considering exiting, and then turning to Katara once more.

She’s indeed lying on the bed weeping, but her eyes are close and she doesn’t reacts to me inside the room. Toph was right, she must be having a nightmare.

I pass hand down my face. Breathe. _Okay. No need to panic. I do know a thing or two about nightmares after all._

I come close to her bed, careful to not wake her up too abruptly. She’s talking in her sleep.

“Mom… I’m scared…”

I sit on her bed and take her shoulders. They feel slender under my palms. I shake them gently. “Katara.”

She remains contorting in place, like her consciousness was trying to physically run away from the place her subconscious has dragged her. “Mom…”

“Katara.”

“Mom…”

My fingers tighten involuntarily. I give a softly rigid shake. “Katara.”

“Mom…” Her hair’s is becoming messy for all of her head’s spasms, it glues to her forehead for the sweat.

“Katara.”

“Mom…” She grimaces in pain, her voice is hoarse and in the brink of breaking.

“Katara. Katara!”

It’s almost a shadow the way she wakes up. A flash of her dark hair flying up, the dark skin of her arms creating an imperceptible shade as they move propping her up and then clinging to me, holding me close. Her head buries against my chest, I can feel her sobs as if they came from inside it.

I don’t react immediately – and I know it is rather embarrassing that I don’t, but there’s just… I don’t know what to do. Or if I’m even welcome to do anything.

Slowly, my arms wrap around her. I try make my voice as soothing as I can when I say: “It’s all right, it’s all right. You’re safe now. Everything is fine.”

I could say that she stops for a second, but it’s so brief it’s almost like I imagined it. Her hands roam over my back and she squirms closer to me, curling into me. Her cries drown against my shirt. They resound in all my chest.

“It’s alright,” I repeat, brushing her hair with my fingers. “You’re safe.”


	2. Author's Note

**_ Author’s Note _ **

**Hey, everyone!**

**I know it’s a little early on the fic for uploading an author’s note, but there’s just something I need to tell you.**

**First, thanks for all your support, I’m super excited that you’re liking the story so far! But I also came to tell you that my life hasn’t been easy recently and maybe it doesn’t help that I’m overloading myself with writing and art projects, so it might take some time before I update again.**

**Lately, I’ve been having some more than stressful days; I’ve been repeatedly bullied on social media for a number of topics, form country’s (Venezuela’s) situation, to my family’s personal situation, to my favorite book authors. (It makes no sense; I know.) The BLM movement is somewhat triggering for me because the same people that bully me for being Latina claim themselves “anti-racists”, and granted, maybe they are _not_ racist; they are just xenophobes. I just can’t stop seeing the hypocrisy and I don’t want to relate such horrible thoughts to such a noble cause. **

**All of that combined with my sleeping troubles gives me some awful migraines that certainly don’t get better if I keep pushing myself to work – (even if it is for writing and drawing, two of the things I love to do the most.)**

**What I’m trying to say is that I wanted to keep coming up with new chapters and new stories for keep bringing some joy even during the bad times… and also for trying to reach Cassandra Clare’s level of writing two books at a time.**

**But I guess I just can’t be Cassie Clare.**

**I realize now that I need to give myself some more space and treat myself kinder so, I’m going to use a little of that space for organizing my thoughts and then come back with more chapters. Just… when I’m ready.**

**I need some time to finish certain things and schedule new projects. Maybe with a new, more ordered agenda, I’ll find time to come up with new fanarts inspired on my current fics.**

**I’m not going to think much of it now, I just came to tell you that I’m glad you have enjoyed the fic so far, and that I hope you’ll keep enjoying it when I come back again. Thanks again for your support, it means the world to me!!**

**Bye!!**

**Hugs and kisses!!**


	3. Your energy calms me, it soothes me – (I don't do jealousy - Zuko's POV)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I'm back! 😅

**Zuko**

I can’t help but have a bad feeling about tonight.

And it’s not even how crowded the Ember Island Theater is and how someone could recognize us, I just… _really_ don’t want to see this play.

And Sokka and Suki have taken _ages_ to get the tickets!

“Sugar Queen, you wait here with Sparky while Twinkletoes and I go to the line in the snack stand,” Toph declares. “It’s not a night at the theater if you don’t have snacks.” Just like that, she grabs Aang by the arm and drags him away for both of them to disappear into the crowd.

“I told you to stop calling me ‘Sparky’!” I yell after her.

“I don’t think she heard you,” Katara says from next to me. (The following _“none of the times”_ is implicit.)

I groan and look away at the beach. _Whatever!_

It is somewhat cloudy tonight, but clear enough for the moon to illuminate the waves. They are colored deep indigo blue, the wind makes them more pronounced. I would have preferred we had stayed at the beach house tonight, it’s quieter there – and away from crowds like the one we got ourselves trapped in here. Against all odds – including the ones I set for myself – the house makes me feel more at ease than this theater all my family visited when we were… different people.

The house remembers me of myself, the person who I am now; this place remembers the person I was _then_.

Drifting my gaze away, I stare at Katara instead as she seems mesmerized by the building. (Granted, it _is_ pretty.)

She roams it with her eyes, attentively observing the golden details carved in the walls and the doors, her face is so deep in thought and interested it’s hard to look away from it. Her eyes sparkle as though they were reflecting the gold.

A sudden current of wind comes. She trembles.

“You are cold?” I ask.

She turns to me, startled like she was too far gone until I shook her out of it. Her face is hesitant, but she rubs her arms rather hardly until she finally says “Yeah, a little.”

“Here. Have this.” I take my cloak off my shoulders and place it over hers.

I tie the hood’s knot myself, trying to it not too loose for it to fall off, but not too tight for her to be uncomfortable.

Katara must be _really_ cold. Her trembling doesn’t quit, even her voice waves when she asks: “Shouldn’t you keep your hood on?”

“Relax,” I continue tying the cloak. “You’d be surprised by how few people recognize me outside the capital. There you go.”

I finish and step back, she accommodates the cape over her shoulders. There’s a strange expression in her face that I can’t quite place.

“You don’t go out much?” she inquires.

I look away. “I prefer being inside.”

She laughs. “Please, don’t tell me that you are _unpopular_.”

Now I merely try to force a blush away. “I… I’m not unpopular! I… I _decided_ not to have a social life.”

And _then_ I realize how _that_ sounded.

Katara is not very good at hiding her emotions, is she? It’s _clear_ from the way her lips are pressed together she’s trying to repress yet _another_ laugh. Even her eyes are about to burst into tears of laughter.

“Shut up,” I say.

Her fingers cover just a piece of her amused smile. “Well, you _are_ hanging out with the rebel kids now. That gives you some points.”

Against my own will, the corner of my mouth curves upwards upon her words. “Great. I appreciate that.”

I never used to ‘hang out’ with anyone, the idea is exciting!

Well… I did use to go out with Mai and Ty Lee and Azula – which doesn’t count as hanging out, because it was with my sister. And _especially_ because my sister is _Azula_ – of _all_ fourteen-year-old girls in the world!

Katara suddenly turns quiet. She’s frowning to somewhere in the distance.

“Something wrong?” I wonder.

She blinks and almost physically yelps at my voice like she was even deeper in thought than earlier.

“No,” she says, smiling, but there’s something wrong with it. Her smile seems kind of forced. “Why?”

“You looked mad all of the sudden.”

She blinks, shocked once again, like each of my answers disarm her defenses and push her to search for new ones.

“It’s nothing. I’m just impatient for the play to start. It feels like we have been waiting out here for hours.”

“Oh, that,” I say, realization dawning upon me. “It has always been this way. This place has such a slow administration; back when I was a kid, they couldn’t fasten up not even with the _Fire Lady_ waiting with her children outside the doors.”

“You came here very often?”

I nod. “Nearly all weekends while we spend the summer.”

“Your mother liked theater a lot?”

The thoughts and memories are a blur, they pass through my head too fast for me to tell which ones are real and which ones I’m imagining.

I see my mother smiling. (I don’t remember where we were exactly, it seemed that there was a blinding light eclipsing everything but her.) Her lips were moving as she spoke but I can’t remember all that she said. All I can remember is that it was something good, something pure, something that made me happy, too.

 _Happy_. I feel happy.

“Oh, yeah!” The words leave my lips carrying the euphoria threatening to blow me up from the inside out. “I think she wanted to be an actress herself. She knew the entire script of ‘Love amongst the Dragons’ by heart. She memorized _all_ the characters! But her favorite was the protagonist, the Dragon Empress. You should have seen her, she was amazing reciting the lines! And she always cried when the Dragon Emperor and Empress ended up together at the end, she used to say that the play taught us that true love can overcome anything.”

I’m breathing heavily by the time I end, despite smiling like a lunatic. Katara only stares at me.

The euphoria doesn’t die down while we stand there looking at each other in the eye, it grows calmer but brighter. Bright like Katara’s eyes as I gaze at them, like her aura and persona. As if, more than water, she was made of moonlight, mixing in the night with fire lanterns.

I feel a hard thud against my side.

When I turn, I grab the person that crashed against me by the arm. It’s a Fire Nation girl around our age, I help her regain her ground. She grips my forearms for steadying herself.

“Oh, so sorry!” she apologizes immediately after stabilizing. “I think somebody pushed me. I’m so very sorry…”

She trails off, gesturing, and clearly waiting for me to say my name.

“Lee,” I say.

I don’t turn to Katara to see her reaction.

“Lee!” The girl exclaims. “What an interesting name!”

“I’m Disa,” she proceeds, pointing to herself, “Nice to meet you, Lee; thanks for helping me. It was _so_ nice of you.”

“Thanks. And you’re welcome,” I reply, letting go of her arms.

For a moment, it looks like she visibly frowns, but then smiles widely. (Too wide somehow.)

“See, my friends and I,” she gestures to a group of girls a few meters away from us, all of them wave and smile in sync, “have been observing you for a while and we were wondering, would you like to come seat with us at the play?”

Even without turning, I can feel Katara’s rage. The tension around the three of us is hard to ignore.

“We have passes for the exclusive seats inside the theater,” Disa proceeds. “We are going to sit with all the _most_ important people in the Fire Nation. It turns out we have an extra ticket, would you like to come seat with us, Lee?”

Okay, with the tension growing, I’m not sure about what’s going on in here, I just… “I – um – ”

“Please, consider it as a ‘thank you’ gift from my part,” Disa persists. “Besides, it would be an honor for us to watch the play with such a handsome boy.”

She entangles her arm with mine bumptiously, and I feel the urge to back away, furthermore when her bony hand comes to my bicep. But before I have time to do anything by myself, Katara’s own arm comes tangle with my other, free one. Her hand also settles on my muscles, and her tact alleviates the uneasiness of being touched by a stranger.

She tugs me closer to her and away from Disa. I follow.

“I’m sorry,” Katara says in Disa’s direction with noticeable hypocrite sweetness, (I can tell for living with Azula), “But I think my _boyfriend_ and I would prefer to spend some time _alone_.”

 _Boyfriend?_ Wait… _What?_

I stand still, witnessing the exchange. Disa’s eyes grow big in an instant, baffled.

“Your _boyfriend_?” she gasps the last word.

“ _Yes_ ,” Katara states, “And if you didn’t notice, we were having a conversation before you appeared. We would very much like to return to it so, if you could only go back to your friends…”

She mimics Disa’s wide smile, it almost looks painful on her.

Her eyes big, Disa swaps glances between me and Katara. “Well, I… ah… I think I’ll leave you two alone then.”

“Yes, do that.” Katara’s smile widens.

Disa shoots her another look – heavier than the previous ones – and then at me, before departing. “Right… Ah… Thanks again, Lee. Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you, too!” Katara says perkily after her. (It’s weird, I don’t think she was talking to _her_.)

By the time Disa returns to her friend group, they exchange a few words before leaving for another place outside the theater, though still staring our way.

I clear my throat when they are finally out of sight. “Well… that was… um…”

“The reason for the bad reputation of teenage girls?” Katara deadpans.

“I don’t think _they_ are the reason for that, specifically.”

“If they contribute to further damage the said reputation, then they are.”

“Right.” I (try) clear my throat again. “What… What was that with the boyfriend thing?”

“They wouldn’t let you go if I didn’t say it.”

“How do you know?”

“Geez, I don’t know, Zuko. Because I’m a _girl_?”

“Right,” I say, feeling foolish. “Figures. Sorry.”

She hums, testily.

The tension did not go away with those girls, it strengthens with the silence that follows. I’m highly aware of Katara still holding on to my arm, but she’s only lost in thought yet again not even noticing she’s still clinging to me.

I take the chance to stare at her some more. _There’s something… that I should say._

I don’t know what, but I can feel it. Even more, the sensation is like I _want_ to say it, but I don’t know what it is. It feels as though, if I said it, then all this moment would be fixed, and the tension choking us like thick smoke would vanish. But I remain quiet.

Maybe it is for the best because when Katara notices she’s still gripping my arm, she lets go like it was on fire. _She’s running away from me_.

I look away. “I… Toph and Aang have been gone for a long while. I’m going to see if they are okay.”

Without thinking, I walk away before hearing her answer. (I can’t be near Katara right now.)

I thought I had overcome this, feeling alone even while I’m surrounded by people but apparently I’m not. The more I step into the crowd the darker, colder I feel. I don’t want to think about how the sensation grows the farther away I get from Katara. (I can’t be near _or_ think of her.)

How is it that they say though, ‘easier said than done’?

I drag – _stretch_ the tension there was between Katara and me with every step I take. It’s stressing, it’s dozens of pegs pulling me to turn back and tearing me from the inside out the more I refuse to follow.

This is horrible.

Aang is oblivious to it once I get to the snack stand. “Hey, Zuko. I thought you were with Katara.”

“I… thought about checking on you, guys. Everything alright?”

“Sure! Well…,” he hesitates, “Toph is still arguing with that guy that was trying to cut in – ” his thumb hooks in their way, Toph’s and a guy’s who is twice her age and around eight times her size; they’re yelling at each in a corner “– but for the rest everything is fine.”

I glance at him, then back at Toph. “Should we go help her?”

His head shakes vehemently. “I tried, but she told me to just stay here and don’t give away our spot in the line.”

“I’m going to ask her myself just in case,” I say.

“Hey, by the way,” he stops me for a split second, “what happened to your hood?”

I bite my lip.

“I took it off, there’s no need for me to wear it all the time.”

Toph doesn’t turn to me when I come closer and, to be fair, she isn’t looking straight at the guy in front of her; she’s looking to the space above his shoulder, but her index fingers points to directly to my nose before I even get to them.

“Don’t get into this, Sparky! This is between _Macho Jerk_ and me!”

 _Spirits, I knew her sensing abilities were good, but…_ “You could recognize me by my steps alone?”

“Did you just _forget_ to _who_ you’re talking to?”

“No,” I remark. “Not at all.”

“Yo, kiddo,” the troglodyte in front of her barks my way. “This your little sister? Why don’t you get her ready for her bedtime instead of messing in grown-up matters?”

Toph is outraged. “ _What did you just said?_ ”

“Don’t be _too_ harsh on him,” I tell her before walking off. (We don’t need to get ourselves banned from this place, too.)

So, Toph is looking for a fight, Sokka and Suki are off being couple-ish, Aang is just going with the flow… (Yeah, this seems like a normal night.) (Or it would be if, by the time I return to the theater’s gates, Katara wasn’t scowling and caged against a wall by some _other_ troglodyte.)

_He kind of looks familiar…_

_Wait…_

_Oh, no, not this again!_

I bolt myself to Katara’s side, yank her by the arm, shielding her against myself. She’s tense, but her body eases slowly as she realizes it’s me the one that’s holding her. My arms wrap around her waist almost involuntarily, just the way my heart races when her head comes to rest against my chest.

(What was this guy’s name again?) Never mind. He growls. “You again?”

(That’s right. Roun… something.) “Yes, me again. And you, again, stop talking to my _girlfriend_! Again.”

(This worked with those girls from before, right?) (It can work again, right?)

“I didn’t hear her complaining,” ‘Roun-something’ replies conceitedly.

“I was going to do _more_ than just complaining if you didn’t back off,” Katara states. Her own arms come around my neck and mine tighten our embrace.

“Ha! Lucky _you_ that I arrived then,” I tell the idiot. (He looks even _more_ idiotic than what I remember if that’s even possible.)

I think this is the first time I see his laidback front falling down; he grimaces at me with hatred. (What would Sokka say at a moment like this?) ( _‘What’s the matter? It’s just a night at the theater’_?)

“So you got yourself a new girlfriend after being dumped, huh? That’s it, buddy. Move on and all that stuff.”

I tense in a breath.

It’s not only my first instinct, but it’s also a reaction that triggers from my psyche. The memory of Mai materializes in front of me, but it is unwelcome. Somehow. In some way. I haven’t thought of her in _weeks_.

I feel guilty, unforgiven. I try to remember why I forgot about her for so long, but there’s nothing, my life was so… peaceful until now. I can’t remember.

The Roun-something guy (Ruon-Jian! _Now_ I remember!) (Did I forget just _everything_ related to my life at the palace?) smirks, and the guilt is replaced by rage when his revoltingly swaggering gaze returns to Katara. _Don’t look at her_ , I think his way. _You don’t even have the right to look at her._

“Don’t know what you’re doing with him, beautiful,” he says, “His last girlfriend dumped him in the middle of a party full of people because of how much of a loser he was. Also, she totally wanted me, but that’s another story.”

I could throw him to trespass the wall right now.

I could kick him and then watch and listen to the bricks falling on top of him. But that would call out too much attention, right?

Katara doesn’t seem to mind since she attempts to get out of my hold to (quite visibly) throw a swing at Roun-Jian. (That, or clawing his eyes out herself.) I hug her tighter, keeping her against me. I’m not going to put her – none of us – in danger of being discovered.

I won’t.

“Yeah, my last girlfriend did that,” I admit. (It’s hard to repress the anger.) (It gets easier when I remember Katara’s with me.) “And now I have someone else, who you should be thanking right now because for her I’m willing to keep a leveled head and not throw you to hit that dumb head of yours against the wall. Remember how _that_ went last time?”

I smirk, and Ruon-Jian’s face falls. 

“I wasn’t ready at that time!” His fists clasp and release at his sides.

I shrug. “Nobody cares.”

Now he looks like he could just cry.

I’m not arrogant – (not anymore) – but I _do_ am enjoying this. I’m not stiff any longer, and Katara’s relaxed, too; I can feel it. It makes me relieved. Makes me feel triumphant.

Katara and I both stare at Ruon-Jian while he thinks what to do next – if he can think at all. (It’s mostly him trying to pick up a fight and then backing off anyways.)

He stares at me and Katara for a long moment, passing his eyes through our arms tangled around each other.

“Whatever.” He turns, and I suppress more savage fury when he winks at Katara. “Come look for me when you get tired of him, beautiful.”

Katara tries to attack him again, but I stop her shaking my head slowly. _He’s not worth it_.

“Do you know him from before?” she asks me more than puzzled.

I roll my eyes. “Something like that. I came to spend the weekend here with Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee a few weeks ago; he and his dumb friend invited Mai and Ty Lee to a party and then Azula wanted for us to go too.”

“He doesn’t seem to know… I mean… who you _are_.”

“Told you that almost nobody recognizes me outside the capital. Besides, Azula didn’t tell them who we were because she suddenly wanted to see how people would treat her if they didn’t know she was the princess.” I smirk at the memory. “That didn’t turn out well.”

Katara grins earnestly, a little too excitedly irradiating antsy energy. It doesn’t escape me that it is when I mention things not turning out well for Azula – (for a change.) Perhaps I should humor her saying more, but she takes the bother to tame her smile bit by bit, the clear hungry curiosity dying down.

It is strange how gratefulness and uneasiness can mix with each other; I know Azula is _nobody’s_ favorite person, but I… it feels… People shouldn’t be happy if something happens to my sister. I shouldn’t feel _thankful_ that they hide their excitement at all. I shouldn’t…

I try to find someone to blame for it, so this weird feeling will turn back into anger, but I can’t find any. For moments, I tell myself it is _my_ fault, but then the image of my father appears before my eyes. It’s sickening, how I can’t think about myself without seeing my father’s face.

“But what happened with that Ruon-Jian guy, anyway?” Katara queries.

“He was flirting with my girlfriend,” I say, “so I pushed him to crash against a jar.”

“You had a _girlfriend_?”

“Is that so hard to believe?” I deadpan to answer her squeal.

“No, no, it’s just that…” Her eyes move around as if searching for a reply in the bare air. “You never mentioned it.”

I shrug once more. “It doesn’t really matter anymore. We broke up.”

“Oh… I’m sorry. Did it happen back at that party?”

“No. Well… we _did_ break up at that party. Remember what I told you about me being a jerk when I got back here?” I tell her. “I was angry about _everything_ , I was out of control, and she dumped me because she got tired of it.” A pause. “But then we got back together. And then I broke up with her when I left the Fire Nation.”

Katara cringes imperceptibly, her voice is sympathetic when she says: “I’m so sorry, Zuko. What was her name?”

“It was Mai.”

Katara stiffens.

I don’t know why, but she does.

“Oh… Uh…” Slowly, she commands her muscles to ease. “I’m sorry about it. For you and her. I’m sorry that you had to leave someone you cared for behind, and I’m sorry that she had to lose someone she cared for, too.”

I shrug again. _It doesn’t really matter_ _anymore_. 

“Hey,” Katara’s hands come to my shoulders and rub them soothingly, “you’ll get the chance to see her again.”

“I saw her when we were at the Boiling Rock,” I recall, “Her uncle was the warden and he let her confront me in private.”

Her eyebrows go a little up, “What happened then?”

“She brought with her the letter that I left when I ran away – ” I’m avoiding looking in the eye. I can’t see her face while talking about this “ – and started reading it out loud in front of me.”

I don’t know what answer I was expecting, but her voice remains understanding. Reassuring. “She was upset, Zuko, I bet that she was really glad to see you again.”

“It didn’t look that way.” (I can’t help but form a _not_ so reassuring smile remembering that moment.) “It certainly didn’t look that way when I locked her inside a cell.”

“You _what_?”

I defend myself quickly: “It was for Sokka and me to get Suki and your dad out of the prison.”

She’s not convinced, and she’s not so willing to console me anymore, I can see for the mild scowl in her face. It’s weird because as far as I know Mai and Katara aren’t all that close to getting angry on each other’s behalf, and Katara didn’t seem like the type to defend strangers with those girls from earlier… Women are complicated.

“Anyways…,” I continue, trying to push the conversation forward. “She got out after a while. And when the guards tried to cut the line we were using to escape, she stopped them.” Another pause. “She saved us.”

The wind carries the silence between us pushing me to a deplorable, self-deprecating corner of my mind. Unreasonable shame darkens everything around me, separating me from the rest of the world like always. I try to fight it, I do try to tell myself there’s no reason for me to feel guilty or ashamed about, but I can’t. _I can’t_.

I _did_ forget everything about my life at the palace, including the people who I could have helped.

The darkness fades abruptly, but my eyes close when Katara’s hand comes to hold my cheek.

“She cared about you,” she says, nearly whispers.

“I like to believe that.”

“She did,” she accentuates, “I bet she forgave you already.”

“You think?” My eyes do open now, Katara’s face is a mere breath away from mine.

“Yes.” She caresses the side of my face, my eyes close blissfully once more. “We always forgive the ones that we love.”

I feel my mouth stretching in a smile.

And then we both tense.

Physically, truly tense.

Realization hits me right in the gut as I register my arms against Katara’s exposed back, her whole body pressed against mine, and her hands on my face and shoulder.

_Spirits, what am I doing?_

I apologize as soon as we untangle each other: “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! I shouldn’t… I didn’t… It was for making that guy believe you were my girlfriend and…”

 _What have I done?_ My hands fly to pull at my hair.

“I’m so sorry,” I repeat. “And I’m sorry for calling you my girlfriend, I just… you did the same thing with those girls and I… I had to think fast! And…”

“It’s okay,” Katara assures with a visibly twisted smile. “You’re right, I did the same thing with those girls. And it was only for them to go away. Is not like we were really a couple or anything.”

“Yeah. Right. Is not like that.” My hands fall down.

“Because that would be crazy.”

Then they go up in surrender. “Totally crazy.”

“The _craziest_ …” Katara’s gaze drifts away.

“You should put your cloak back on.” She unties the knot around her neck to take the cape off from her shoulders. “If there are people here that might know you like that Ruon-Jian guy, then we have to avoid them from seeing you with the rest of us.” She places the cape over my shoulders. “It’s for not drawing the attention to our group.”

“Yes. Sure.” I accommodate the cape and tie it around my neck, Katara helps me put on the hood in a way that covers the most of my face without blocking my line of sight.

“All right, we have the tickets ready!”

Sokka’s walking towards us with a dumb smile on his face, the tickets in his hand, and the other holding Suki’s. Toph and Aang come behind, yet they aren’t carrying any snacks and Toph is noticeably sulking.

_Please tell me she didn’t get into another fight!_

“What happened to the snacks you were looking for?” Katara asks her.

Toph groans. “ _Ugh!_ Don’t even mention it, would you? The prices here are a robbery!”

_Robbery. Like the one Katara and I stopped and then were mistaken by a couple._

Can we go home now?

“You guys went for snacks?” Sokka wonders.

“I just said don’t mention it!” Toph nags.

“Why didn’t you bring any?”

“Didn’t you hear what I said about the prices?”

“Oh, come on! It’s not like we have the chance for a night at the theater all that often, we could have paid for a bag of fire-gummies.”

“We can still go make the line at the stand,” Aang proposes.

“Not really,” Suki intercedes, “The Theater is opening already.”

We all follow her gaze to the huge, golden doors of the Ember Island Theater, opened by some elder men. The wave of people around us rushes inside bumping our sides.

“Oh, man!” Sokka whines, “Now how are we gonna get snacks?”

“You can go look for some during the intermission,” Suki says, “Quick, let’s get in so we can find good seats.”

I _really_ wish we would just go home now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed it! 😃 But also, I need your help, please check out this post to see more details: https://heavensweetheart.tumblr.com/post/628563499111661568


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